Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 304 - 296: One-Sixth

A Puki with an exotic purple mushroom hat was earnestly displaying its plump body in front of the cross-legged tailless lizardman.

"Norris, how does it feel?" Lin Jun asked.

"What... feeling?" Norris looked perplexed, with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, "Isn’t it just a Puki... uh... having a cramp?"

"Don’t you feel even a little bit... blood boiling? A primal instinct roaring inside you? Wanting to rush over and protect it at all costs, to cherish it?" The voice was full of inducement.

"No... boss!" Norris was exasperated, "It’s a Puki! Who knows if it’s the self-destructing kind? What am I getting all worked up for? I just want to stay away from it, so I don’t get caught in its blast!"

How is it not working? Don’t tell me this guy isn’t considered human anymore!

Lin Jun didn’t give up, and after pestering for a while, Norris’s status bar finally showed a [Charm (Mild)].

"Huh?" Norris had a confused look and instinctively reached out his hand, "This Puki... seems kinda... cute?"

His fingertips were about to touch the wobbly purple mushroom hat.

Suddenly, he snapped out of it: "Wait a minute! Boss! Are you testing something on me?"

The moment he realized this, the mild Charm effect on Norris naturally dissipated.

Well, being low-level does that, and since Norris knows himself quite well, he’s mentally prepared. This outcome was understandable.

Lin Jun turned around and used the skill on the more weak-willed lizardman prisoners, and the effect was immediate. It didn’t take much effort before the target’s eyes became glazed, wishing they could clutch the test Puki to their chest as if it were a treasure.

This skill, though called "Charm Humans," in reality, the "humans" refer to humanoid creatures.

The effect is there, but so is the problem—once charmed, then what?

The charmed target indeed instinctively keeps that "special" Puki close, never leaving its side, guarding it like a treasure, but that’s all!

Without the Fungal Network, Lin Jun couldn’t communicate or give orders to the charmed target.

And if he conjured a language-capable Puki to speak, the target would be frightened into sobriety immediately.

Is it because of incomplete complementary skills?

After some research, it was discovered that indeed a skill called [Mental Suggestion] was missing.

This skill was present in the Half-demon Leader Bastardos, but Lin Jun obviously couldn’t just disassemble Bastardos for it.

The reason Bastardos surrendered was simple.

The most important was, of course, he couldn’t win!

Secondly, his hometown was wiped out; besides the hundred or so people around him, the rest of his tribe were in Lin Jun’s hands.

Surrendering might possibly earn his tribesmen a slightly better life.

All in all, he’s a useful guy, not worth eating for one small skill.

Another skill, [Tempting Kiss], Lin Jun eagerly tested as well.

The effect... It’s akin to Puki being able to slightly absorb Life Force when in contact.

It’s useful, but... it doesn’t involve "temptation" or a "kiss." Changing the name to "Life Absorption" wouldn’t be inappropriate at all.

The enchanting Puki image in Lin Jun’s fantasy, capable of turning heads and making people willingly give up everything, seems hopeless.

Among the newly acquired skills, the most useful is [Regeneration].

The effect of [Regeneration] doesn’t conflict with [Fungal Filament Reassembly]; the recovery effects stack, and the cost on Puki translates to consuming Magic Power.

This skill is great, whether for Heavy Armor Puki or for use by the minions, provided the level is increased a bit.

As for [Fake Death], Lin Jun felt it was similar to "Turtle Breath," where all activities stop, and even the intrinsic Magic Power dwindles to only sustaining life.

In such a state, even if Puki got up, the lack of intrinsic Magic Power renders it unable to continue fighting.

It doesn’t feel completely useless, but all imagined application scenarios are too stringent, limiting its utility.

Apart from the numerous skills upgrades from looting, Lin Jun’s core ability [Spiritual Integration] finally broke through the threshold, advancing to Level 8.

The maximum number of Puki he could directly control shot up from 2,500 to 5,000, doubling!

But Lin Jun noticed a detail.

When [Spiritual Integration] advanced from level six to seven, it similarly doubled, from 1,500 to 3,000.

Prior to this upgrade, his actual control cap was 2,500, due to the Dungeon Core occupying a fixed 500 units of "computation power" resource.

Logically, with this upgrade, his controllable Puki numbers should have increased to 5,500, but the fact was, it only doubled from the reduced base.

So, the Dungeon Core’s consumption wasn’t a fixed 500 units but a constant one-sixth of his total Spiritual Computation Power.

The bad news is...

Lin Jun tried to boost Xing Huo’s [Spiritual Integration] to Level Eight.

The result was disappointing, with no change whatsoever.

Xing Huo, as a standout among the Demon Race for controlling Puki, had a limit of slightly over 150.

However, the level upgrade in [Spiritual Integration] neither increased his control cap nor, like Norris, unlocked the ability to simultaneously and precisely command multiple Pukis for different tasks.

The feeling was as if Xing Huo’s potential in this area had reached its peak, and further upgrading this skill was futile.

Lin Jun conducted the same test with other members of the Demon Race, and the results were identical—the "expansion" effect from increasing [Spiritual Integration]’s skill level seemed only applicable to himself.

After sorting out the gains, Lin Jun also began contemplating possible developments following this event.

Some people escaped, an almost inevitable outcome.

After all, in a world with various skills, magic, and flying abilities, with more people, there are always some adept escape artists who can break out.

Not everyone who escapes will return to the tribe waiting for Lin Jun to show up; some Half-demons, upon seeing their tribe destroyed, chose to leave on their own.

In any case, partial intelligence leaks are inevitable.

If it were the Empire, what would they do?

The two nearest tribes to the Demon Race have already been defeated. Even the more distant tribes, even if they wish to assist the Empire, are limited by the severe cold and distance, rendering them unable to help.

Besides, even if they came, it’s not a given they could win.

As for the Empire sending its own army to hunt him down, that’s even less likely.

After all, the internal Empire troops likely do not generally possess advanced [Cold Resistance]—being able to thrive in such harsh conditions is what makes me truly strong!

Therefore, only two possibilities remain.

Either let him be for now, or send powerful individuals capable of defeating Lin Jun, namely those Dukes!

To prepare for such a possibility, Lin Jun naturally needed to be ready.

In short, it’s time to move!